KEN TUCKY

Iain and I took the children after school to see some owls which were sitting "on display" outside our local garden centre.  A young man was there with his donation bucket whilst answering questions about these owls the Clyde Valley Birds of Prey people have in captivity.

This Eagle Owl is absolutely huge!  She stands about half the height of Alastair as seen in the photo below ... say about 24 inches.  Her name is "Dakota". 

On the way home I asked the gang in the car "What was the biggest owl's name?"  Didn't know.   I prompted "Well, it is named after one of the American states."

Their reply:  "Ken Tuky?" !!!

This is a barn owl.  Again beautiful colouring.  These photos are "as is" i.e. no Photoshop enhancements ... who needs them?!

AGEING WITH HONOUR: 2013 BLOG ANNIVERSARY

Another year, another blog.  I launched this blog on this day in 2007 (here). Yes, I am a year older; probably not any wiser....!

So it has been 6 years since I started this blog!  Amazing!

**** LIFE ROLLS ON ****

I still enjoy a dram ... especially as it's my birthday today.  Age with honour: a good sentiment!

Healthwise: OK.  The varifocal glasses are holding up well. That bright cloth is a sample piece of cleanroom microfiber given to me back in the days when I worked with cleanroom people.

 I am never very far away from the car.  In this case it is the Volkswagen Golf that we bought a few months ago.  The pea green coffee flask is my answer to Alastair's Starbucks coffee jug.  Just fits into the car cup holder.  The yellow container  in the adjacent cup holder is Marks and Spencer hand-cream.  The white Hudson Bay fleece blanket on the passenger seat is from Alastair and Dawn this past Christmas.  The iPhone cable plugs into the state-of-the-art car radio - essential!

 

I still regularly meet with our Wine and Dine group.  Here is a sample of last Tuesday's evening at The Urban Grill, Glasgow city centre. (South African Pinot Noir, 2009)

I am still playing the piano and continue with music lessons every Wednesday morning.  In fact, I am doubling up this year as I (finally!) found a music teacher who is familiar with the Associated Board's Jazz Syllabus.  Basically I am a classical player and practice diligently. My problem is that I don't "play" about.  So it gets my nose out of the music as I doodle about ... up and down the keyboard.

 

Iain and I have volunteered to update one of the volumes of the Clyde Crusing Club's Sailing Directions.  To that end we are working on the Orkney and Shetland volume which includes the Northeast coast.  He does the charts; I do the text and take photographs.

Lastly here is a card from Mairi.  It made me laugh and laugh.  This is a parody of my neighbour, Dot, and I who share a fence and garden strip between our houses.  If the truth be told, we simply leap over the fence as no one is there to stop us!

And so back to the garden ... these petunias fell off in the last rain.  They are in a little glass beside a candle that Linda B gave me last Christmas.  They perch on the window ledge at the back of this computer.

GOOGLE DOODLE 'N' ALL THAT JAZZ

Yesterday, May 8th, Google made an outstanding Google Doodle.  It is a tribute to a man in the film industry who make the bit of the movie which takes to do with the titles at the beginning of the film. His name is  Saul Bass. He is 93 years old.



This short video creates the Google logo in the style of of Bass using the following movies'  introductory title sequences:

Psycho
The Man with the Golden Arm
Spartacus
West Side Story
Vertigo
North by Northwest
Anatomy of a Murder
Ocean's 11
Around the World in Eighty Days

As you watch the Google Doodle you will recognise the film artwork as they are done in the order above.

I can't decide if I like the film references  (I can recognize them all!) or the theme music which is Dave Brubeck's Unsquare Dance.

Love it!

THE KINGDOM OF MACBRAYNE

If you live on the west coast of Scotland you know about MacBrayne's.  This is ferry boat operator who plies the water of, not just the Clyde, but all of the islands.  They are a monopoly and have been around for 106 years.

Portree, Skye, 2007

Everyone has stories about using these ferries: some good, some not. The fact remains they are simply part of the the landscape, or should that be seascape?... on the Scottish west coast.

To that end, I bought Iain a book of their history for his birthday this past week.

It is published by Birlinn and details are available on their website here. As they say in their blurb, the book "tells the story of David MacBrayne, his ships and his company, his predecessors, rivals and successors.  It explores the world of the early steamships, their successes and failures, as well as their contribution to the ever-changing social fabric of the Highlands and Islands.  Emigrants, tourists, ordinary travellers and crew members, from engineers to pursers, speak of the ships and their impact on their world. "

The title comes from a common ditty that describes them:

The earth belongs unto the Lord

And all that it contains

Except the Western Islands

And the Kingdom of MacBrayne's

Apparently it is a parody of the opening verse of Metrical Psalm 24. It seems this version a misquote but that 's the way I've always known it.

The Arran ferry at Ardrossan pier

Their official name is Caledonian MacBrayne but are always referred to as CalMac,. Their website is here.

MOSSHEAD PRIMARY 1: TED'S MUSEUM VISIT

It was Alastair's turn to show us around his school room and look at his work in Primary One at Mosshead School in Bearsden. The theme was museum visit to see Teddy Bears.

After assembly we were taken on a tour by the 5 year old museum guides.

Here are Grandpa and Alastair looking at his worksheet.

The project work is on the board.  The stories about the museum visit are expressed in one sentence with a coloured drawing to illustrate.  Here Alastair is talking about an elephant.

On display were the childrens' own bears they had brought in for the project. This bear caught my eye from across the room.  It has been nearly 40 years since I had seen him!  This Teddy was given to Mairi by Iain's mother when she was born but had been played with by Alastair.  I looked at the duffle coat and recognized the buttons but do not recall sewing it ... which I clearly did as I can tell by the zig-zag stitching and hand sewing in not-quite-matching thread!

I liked the concept of 4 different levels of "vocies" in the room. I am going to adopt that policy in the house the next time things get a bit boisterous!

* * * * * * *

 Post script:  

THE MALE MIND

One day after school Alastair was in the house and said to me: "I like Lego. Will you get me some for Christmas?"  So I said (knowing he can now print and sound out words) "Why don't you write 'LEGO' on a piece of paper for me so I won't forget?"

So off he went to the kitchen table where the paper and pencil were.  This is the result "Batman" (the "b X a t m a n" means the second letter was an error and is crossed out ... fair enough).

 

Now I looked at this and thought ... What IS it about the male mind? You ask them to do one thing and they go off and do something completely different.

And here we have the 3rd generation ... Hey ho .....  plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!

INDY: IN THE DRIVING SEAT

Alastair took this photo of Indy recently.  He is now 21 months old.  His last eye examination for any signs of further cancer had encouraging results: nothing was found.  The doctors are now going to space out the examinations to every 2 months instead of every month.  Good news!

So here we have our budding Alpha male in the driving seat!... and a nod to Grandpa Dave whose Facebook quip I borrowed!

CLYDE CRUISING CLUB 'TIDELINES' - THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

The yachting organisation for whom I produce a 12 page newsletter entitled Tidelines is called the Clyde Cruising Club and is based in the west of Scotland. It is not a conventional yacht club with a clubhouse but rather it is a big organisation that run a variety of big and not-so-big events, are involved with  young dinghy sailors as well as handicapped sailors,  and lastly produce publications for yachtsmen.

Here is a screen shot of the front page of the April issue. (It comes out 3 times a year.)

The on-line version is below.  It opens in a third party website, i.e. a website for magzines. A grey box should appear with the field EXPAND in the centre.  Click on that to read the 12 pages.

****

The Clyde Cruising Club home page is here and this publication appears under the heading INFORMATION. It can be reached directly by clicking  here.   

Yes, a hard copy is still available for folk to read but this the web version.

Does this work? Will it be used? Probably by the younger generation only ... which is fine ... and it is a start!